Short Summary

The South West African People's Organisation (SWAPO) has agreed to the resumption of Namibian independence talks which were suspended following last month's South African raid on an alleged SWAPO guerrilla camp at Cassingo in southern Angola.

Description

The South West African People's Organisation (SWAPO) has agreed to the resumption of Namibian independence talks which were suspended following last month's South African raid on an alleged SWAPO guerrilla camp at Cassingo in southern Angola. The decision followed a statement by South African Foreign Minister Pik Botha that the 31st December target date for independence for South West Africa/Namibia would have to be postponed unless the five Western powers involved got down to negotiations again. The raid which caused the breakdown has allegedly left hundreds of people in the Cassinga area homeless, and according to an East German television report they have joined thousands of refugees living in makeshift camps in southern Angola.

SYNOPSIS: This baby is the newly-born daughter of one of the people who fled from Cassingo into the refugee camps set up in Angola's southern Huila Province. SWAPO, with the help of the Angola authorities, had apparently been making attempts to supply the refugees with a least one meal a day, but the East German camera crew reported a shortage of basic necessities, particularly food and blankets.

The Television report claims there are close to 30,000 refugees in southern Angola, mostly from Namibia. Medical centres have been set up to treat the sick living in the various bush camps. The reports says more camps are being prepared to house an expected increase in the flow of refugees from the south. However many of the homeless have been caught up in the simmering civil war which is still being fought in Huila Province between the UNITA movement and the governing MPLA forces. This conflict has been continuing since before the territory won independence from Portugal in 1975.